Aftershock
by abcRainbowPie
Summary: After a freak storm that put multiple people in the hospital, Demyx included, the blonde soon finds that the lightning that hit him gave him powers. Being a big fan of comics and superheroes, Demyx starts to use his powers to fight crime. It starts out fine, but things begin to escalate quickly. Suddenly he's not so sure about being a hero and all the cons that come with it. Dexion
The first thought that ran through Demyx's mind as he was shaken awake was that he was late – so, so late. He wondered how he could have slept through his alarm – he always set it on the highest volume setting – but quickly thinking back to last night remembered he hadn't even set it. The blonde was so tired last night that he had forgotten to set an alarm for the first day of school.

He didn't even consider the fact that it wasn't as late as he thought, or even spared a glance at the time. He just assumed he was late because Axel had said he'd come by on his way to school. If Axel was there then he had very little time to get ready. In a panic, Demyx hurriedly got out of bed, blindly pushing the other away only to grab onto them and bring them down with him when he fell, one of his feet tangled in the blanket. He heard two sets of giggling and quickly shot his attention up, finding two girls in his doorway – one with pale blonde hair and the other a redhead, just not the redhead he had expected to be in his home.

Before he could ask them what was so funny, he was being pushed to the side. "Demyx, move off of me," he heard them say and he looked down. It wasn't Axel who had come and woken him and for a moment Demyx was thankful, but also embarrassed by whom he was partially on top of.

"Oh, sorry Zex," he said, getting up and then offering the other a hand. He didn't even have to check the time now to know he had plenty of time to get ready – how Zexion and the girls were up and ready by the time Demyx would be usually waking up stilled baffled him – but he still did. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked. He didn't bother asking how they got in. After all, he had given both Axel and Zexion keys to his home long time ago, and vise versa.

"We came to make sure you were up on time," Zexion answered as he fixed his shirt, which had ridden up a bit with the fall. "Now that you're up I'm going to go make you something to eat. Get dressed." With that he left, not letting the blonde argue. Even if he did it wouldn't change anything. Zexion always made sure Demyx and the others had breakfast before school, especially him since he never bothered to feed himself.

Namine left with him, probably to help, but Kairi stayed put in the doorway, watching him with a teasing look in her eyes.

"What?" he asked and immediately regretted it.

"You should've seen your face," she answered, keeping her voice quiet so she wasn't overheard. The redhead loved to tease him, but she meant well and would never do anything to actually let his secret slip, which he was glad for. He just wished she didn't tease as much as she did.

He narrowed his eyes at her, but he wasn't angry, just annoyed. Without a word, she left, leaving him alone in his room. Demyx quickly threw on some clothes, not caring what he wore, and went to the bathroom to rid of his bed head. By the time he left his room, book bag in hand, his food was ready.

"Mm, thanks," he said with a smile, one hand picking up the plate and the other mindlessly going to ruffle his friend's hair. Demyx hadn't realized he was doing it until Zexion pushed his hand away. He could hear the girls, mostly Kairi, giggling again as well as feel his face heat up. Of course the action could be passed off as just a friendly gesture, but for a while now he's been getting too affectionate towards Zexion. At first he thought he could control it, but now he was worried the other would begin to catch on. Zexion was smart, so of course he would eventually notice if the blonde kept it up.

Embarrassed, Demyx took the plate and quickly left to sit down and eat. He didn't go into the living, knowing Namine and Kairi were in there. Instead he went into the small dining room and sat at the table. Already he was embarrassing himself in front of Zexion. If he could get through the rest of the day without further embarrassment, that'd be great.

When he was done eating he set his dishes in the sink before walking into the living room. "Alright, I'm ready to go," he announced. Of course they'd still wait for Axel, who would be there any minute now. If the redhead didn't show soon then they would go up to his apartment and get him. It helped that they all lived in the same building – they never had to go far to get to each other. Not long after the door opened and Axel walked in, seeming somewhat surprised to see everyone else already there and waiting.

Not wasting another minute, mostly because they couldn't risk missing the bus this late in the morning, they left for school. Thankfully they arrived in time for the bus. Demyx slumped as he took a seat, Namine sitting on one side of him and Zexion on the other. The two redheads stood beside them.

Resting his head back with a tired sigh – he hadn't gotten much sleep last night – Demyx opened his eyes once more as he felt hands tugging on his sleeve. He turned to Namine and when he looked down, noticed that there was a hole in his shirt.

"Can I fix this for you?" she asked, lightly tugging the fabric again.

"Oh, yeah, thanks," Demyx answered. He hadn't realized his shirt had a hole. If he did then he would've changed when still home. It was too late for that though.

Thankfully Namine was a talented seamstress and often carried a small sewing kit with her. The blonde watched as she got said kit from her bag, grabbing a needle and piece of thread. He was always fascinated by how she could thread a needle with such ease, even on a moving bus. He was even more fascinated with her work – she had steady hands and worked fast with few mistakes. Over the summer she had made Kairi a beautiful sundress in just a day. Namine was already done fixing his shirt by the time they arrived at school.

* * *

So far so good, Demyx thought to himself.

The first day of school wasn't as bad as he was expecting. His teachers didn't push a bunch of work on them yet. Most of the time in class was spent either doing ice breakers or having the teacher go over what their class held in store and what was expected of them. Time passed by rather quickly and eventually it was time for lunch.

As he left the building his class was in and made his way to the cafeteria, he was pulled aside and pushed up against the wall. He didn't even have to open his eyes to know who it was – it definitely wasn't Zexion no matter how much he wished. He still looked at the other, glaring at him and the girl who stood behind him.

"Hey there," the guy holding him against the wall greeted with a smug smile. "How was your summer?" he asked innocently, as if he was a friend attempting to catch up.

"It was fine," Demyx answered. Fine was an understatement though. His summer was actually great – amazing – but Marluxia didn't need to know that.

"Oh? Did anything _interesting_ happen between you and Zexion?" Marluxia asked with a smirk. He knew about Demyx's crush, much to the blonde's dismay, and Demyx hated that he did. While Kairi, Namine, and Axel would never let something slip or give hints to Zexion, Marluxia would. Almost has actually.

"No, not that I would tell you anyway," he answered and tried to get out of the other's hold. Surprisingly he was able to. He began to walk away, only to be tripped on his way past the other. With an annoyed groan – he was tired of falling today, even if this was only the second time – the blonde looked back up at the other only to receive another smug look. Without another word, he left with his girlfriend, who thankfully hadn't spoken up. Demyx didn't feel like dealing with her as well.

As he got up, Demyx felt a hand on his arm, helping his to his feet. He looked over and saw Zexion, why he was there and not at the cafeteria, Demyx didn't know. He could only guess he saw what happened and came to help him up.

"You okay?" he asked Demyx.

"No," the blonde answered truthfully. He fixed his clothes and dusted off the dirt that had gotten on him. "Look at me, I'm a fucking mess today, but you look fucking great as usual. It's not fair." As soon as the words left him he froze, realizing what he said. Demyx could pass off his affectionate actions as nothing, but if he began saying things like that, well, Zexion was surely going to find out sooner than later.

He spared a glance at his friends, finding him barely blushing at the sudden compliment. Demyx quickly looked away – he had never seen the other blush at a compliment before and it was a lot cuter than the blonde would have imagined. It made him want to compliment him more, just to see how much he could get him to blush, but he couldn't, not without revealing how he truly felt.

"Come on. Let's go get lunch," Zexion finally spoke up, turning and walking away. Demyx silently followed, still a bit embarrassed and worried about what he said.

* * *

Demyx had a science class after lunch. Upon arrival the teacher sent them to their assigned seats which were in pairs. The blonde could only guess that they were going to have partners for this class and he was proven right when the teacher announced that the person at their table with them were the science partners.

The blonde was thoroughly disappointed. Zexion was in the same class and Demyx wanted him as a partner. The other was extremely good with science, but Demyx supposed he could still borrow his notes even if they weren't partners.

Still, Demyx wished he had a different partner. He was paired with the school's most out casted, trouble making bad boy. Demyx never really thought he was very intimidating, but now up close there was no denying it. His hair was dark black, a strong contrast with his pale skin, and his eyes an unnatural and unnerving gold. The blonde had no idea what color they naturally were and didn't plan on asking anytime soon. Or ever.

Their teacher gave them a short assignment and Demyx gladly set to work on it, avoiding his partner the best he could. Unfortunately for him his partner had other plans.

"You're Zexion's boyfriend, right?" he heard him ask, causing the blonde's pencil to mess up what he was currently writing as he jumped at the question, both at the suddenness of it and from embarrassment.

Demyx looked over with wide eyes, thinking maybe he heard wrong. Maybe the other wasn't even talking to him and he's just imagining things. That wasn't the case though. His partner was watching him with a bored expression, waiting for an answer.

"No," Demyx finally answered. "No, we're just friends."

The other arched in eyebrow at the answer. "Is he single?" he asked next.

The blonde froze at that. Was he interested in Zexion? If he was, no way Zexion would fall for him. Right? Demyx was pretty sure, but then again, he had no clue what type of people Zexion was interested in. "Y-Yeah," he answered.

His partner seemed satisfied with the answers he got. Silently, he turned away from Demyx and began working on the assignment. He didn't say anything else to the blonde for the rest of the class.

If Demyx didn't like him before, he really didn't like him now.

* * *

"Who'd you get as a science partner?" Kairi asked Zexion as they all sat down doing the little homework they were given.

"Roxas," he answered.

"What? Really?" Axel asked, sitting up straighter. "You're so lucky. Meanwhile I got stuck with Kai."

"Hey! I'm great at science," she said, offended.

"You're okay at science," the other redhead replied. "Also, you're not a cute blonde. First Namine's paired with Ven, now Zexion's with Roxas. It's unfair that everyone got good looking partners besides me."

"Hey!" Kairi called out again.

"Roxas isn't that great of a partner," Zexion spoke up.

"I'll trade you," Demyx muttered, gaining everyone's attention.

"Oh yeah, we didn't ask you yet," Kairi said. "Who's you're science partner?"

"Vanitas."

"Still more good looking than mine," Axel said, this time receiving a pillow thrown at his face.

"I don't like him."

"I doubt he's that bad," Zexion said, not looking up. "You hardly know him."

Demyx groaned in response, falling back to lie down.

* * *

School for the next week was pretty uneventful.

Marluxia and Larxene continued to occasionally bother Demyx, which was nothing new.

He and Vanitas worked together in class with as little interaction as possible. The blonde actually thought Zexion may be right about Vanitas. Now that he had been partners with him for about a week, Demyx was beginning to think he wasn't so bad. Of course he didn't know the other personally, but he was surprisingly cooperative and good at science so Demyx tried not to dislike him too much. Still, there was the whole Vanitas possibly liking Zexion thing, but the blonde was trying to forget that.

It was hard to forget though, especially after seeing Vanitas flirt with Zexion in the halls one day.

Seeing that Zexion didn't push him away, Vanitas got bolder and flirted with the other more often. It was subtle, but overall smooth and Demyx was beginning to worry that Zexion was being affected by it.

Marluxia quickly caught on. When he next approached Demyx he had called Vanitas competition, telling him that he was going to lose Zexion to him.

By the end of Friday, Demyx was both emotionally and physically drained. For whatever reason he still wasn't getting much sleep at night. It was most definitely _not_ due to sex dreams – at least not always – which was Axel's answer for why the blonde wasn't sleeping.

When they all got back to their apartment building, Demyx went his own way, stepping off on the first stop in the elevator. He didn't even bother going to his room, instead collapsing on the couch. Time passed, he wasn't sure how much, but eventually he heard a knock on his door and got up to answer it.

Zexion stood in the hall, waiting.

"Zex? What's up?" Demyx asked. "You know you can always just come in."

"Are you still coming to the movie tonight?" he asked instead of answering. "The others are already downstairs."

"Oh shit, sorry, I forgot," the blonde said. "Yeah, I'm coming, just hold on for a minute." He hurried back to the couch, sitting down and putting his shoes back on. Grabbing his phone and keys he went back to his waiting friend. "Ready, let's go."

* * *

While the movie wasn't a date – especially not with Axel and the girls there – Demyx still felt nervous sitting beside Zexion. It was just so tempting to pull one of the cliché moves and put an arm over his shoulders. Their legs occasionally touched, as well as their arms on the shared armrest, and while Zexion didn't seem to mind, Demyx always pulled away quickly. Instead he tried to focus on the movie. After all, he's been looking forward to it for such a long time and he really should watch it rather than Zexion.

After the movie they all decided to go out to eat, maybe get some ice cream. When they stepped outside though, it was already dark, much darker than it should be at that time. Just to double check what time it was, Demyx asked.

"Just pass five," Axel answered, having checked the time on his phone. "It's probably just these clouds," he noted, looking up at said clouds.

"Those clouds look weird," Namine said. "They don't look normal."

"I'm sure it's nothing," Kairi said with a shrug. "Nothing but an unexpected storm."

Demyx made to comment, but was cut off by a loud cracking sound in the sky. There was a bright flash of light, much too close for his liking, and strong claps of thunder. He could feel the thunder in his body, similar to the feeling of bass from loud music. Demyx tried to blink away the stripe of light that remained in his vision and look at his surroundings. Not more than ten feet away the cement was cracked and smoking. A lightning strike he assumed.

More lightning flashed in the distance, accompanied with more thunder. It was nearly nonstop and made Demyx feel uneasy.

"What the hell is this?" he heard Axel say the same time he heard Kairi ask what they should do.

It was hard to say what they should do or where they should go. Obviously it wasn't safe outside – evident by another lightning strike, this one closer to them – and it might not be safe inside. A few fires could be seen in the distance, buildings that have been struck.

Another strike, even closer, and Demyx had a bad feeling about the next one. They all backed away from where it had hit. Demyx instinctively grabbed Zexion's arm and pulled him closer.

"Uh, guys, we should probably move," he said, but Axel and the girls already were, cautiously backing away further. Demyx felt the thunder again. He didn't know how, but he knew it was coming. Without warning, the blonde pushed Zexion down.

The other was about to question what he was doing, but his words were lost as the next strike of lightning hit the blonde above him.

* * *

Alright, so I'm not entirely proud of this first chapter, but it's by third - fourth? - attempt and this is the best I'm probably going to get. Honestly, this story didn't have a clear start when I first thought it up and I'm not good at beginning stories, so, yeah. I promise it'll get good. I'm really determined with this one because I personally really like what happens. I'll have to hold back my foreshadowing, as hard as that is, but hopefully my twist isn't too weird or sudden.

The reason I had trouble with the beginning is because I wanted to introduce all the important characters. I know I didn't really introduce Roxas more than a single mention, but he'll be important, trust me.

One thing I did fail to include is that Demyx and friends are all big comic book/superhero nerds.

Also, I'm still unsure of the title. Originally it was just going to be 'Storm', then 'After the Storm.' If you guys think I should change it, let me know.

Reviews?


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